NEW DELHI
\nProminent world watchdog, Amnesty International, has said that the US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi must address \u201cgrave human rights concerns\u201d in both countries when they meet later this week.
\nNarendra Modi left New Delhi for a three-day visit to the US. He is slated to meet Biden on June 22.
\nAakar Patel, the chair of board at Amnesty International India, said that the two leaders \u201cmust hold each other to account for their human rights commitments, rather than sweep human rights issues in their respective countries under the rug\u201d. \u201cWhile the red carpet has been rolled out for Prime Minister Modi, people in India continue to experience grave human rights abuses,\u201d he said.
\nAmanda Klasing, national director of government relations and advocacy at Amnesty International USA, said Modi has presided over a period of rapid deterioration of human rights protections in India, including increasing violence against religious minorities, shrinking civil society space and the criminalisation of dissent.
\nThe organisation said that many state governments in India \u201chave passed laws to criminalise consensual inter-faith marriages and undertaken punitive demolitions targeting Muslim-owned properties\u201d.
\nThe Amnesty International noted that the targeting of religious minorities in India has been well-documented, including by the US Department of State. The organisation referred to State Department\u2019s 2022 report on religious freedom, which flagged \u201csignificant human rights issues\u201d in India, including extra-judicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests.
\nKlasing said that Biden could not ignore evidence of his own State Department. \u201cHe should encourage Prime Minister Modi to convey to BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] leaders the urgent need to end vitriolic language and to ensure crimes against religious groups are investigated and prosecuted,\u201d she said.
\nElaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch\u2019s Asia Division director, also urged the White House to discuss human rights concerns, both publicly and privately, during Modi\u2019s visit, Reuters reported. \u201cWe strongly urge you to use your meetings with Prime Minister Modi to urge Modi to move his government and his party in a different direction,\u201d she said.
\nIn recent months, several other international organisations have also expressed concerns about diminishing civil liberties in India. In March, Sweden-based Varieties of Democracy Institute listed India among the \u201cworst autocratisers\u201d in the last 10 years, two years after it stated that the country had become an \u201celectoral autocracy\u201d.
\nIndia\u2019s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index \u2013 published by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders \u2013 fell from 150th in 2022 to 161st this year out of 180 countries.
\nIn this backdrop, several human rights groups have planned protests against Modi\u2019s visit to the US. Among them are the Indian American Muslim Council, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace and Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Prominent world watchdog, Amnesty International, has said that the US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi must address \u201cgrave human rights concerns\u201d in both countries when they meet later this week. Narendra Modi left New Delhi for a three-day visit to the US. He is slated to meet Biden on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-339184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n